I have wanted to had a go at this for absolutly ages. I expected to come home with a simple piece of jewellery but I learnt so much in my day with Lori Turner of LR Silver Jewellery.
We covered a tile in badger balm first and did our roller and our hands too. This is to stop the clay sticking. We then rolled the clay into a ball until all the cracks were gone. You need to put some pressure on it. Roll out the clay, turing it each time with the higher spacers. You can then put the texture under the clay and over it if you want texture on both sides. I used offcuts of wallpaper. Use the lower spacers then and just one firm roll from bottom to top. The clay is then ready to cut to your design.
I cut out my back and placed it over a little circular form to get the curved shape. I then cut out the front and placed that too on the form, trying to have them both on the same position. I also made a little bird using a mould. For this I pressed a small ball of clay into the mould and scraped away the excess from the middle outwards using a fine piece of metal. These were then left to dry for about twenty minutes. We used a hostess trolley for keeping food warm. You can use a hairdryer or leave overnight.
The clay is then very fragile. We used files and a sandpaper sponge to get off the rough edges. The pieces were placed back on the heat as they absorb moisture from the air. The unused clay was wrapped in cling film each time and covered with a baby wipe. If the clay gets too dry you will see cracking whn you roll it. You can bring it back by rolling it in clingfilm and adding a mist of water and roll again. The clay is expensive but can be kept wrapped up for a month or so in between uses.
It was now time to stick the piece together using a liquid slip. This comes in a small container and you have to add water and put in a syringe. The tip of the syringe needs to rest in water at all times. You then put water on one piece and slip on the other and stick the two together. It is easiest to put water on the flat object for example the inside of the pendant where the bird went and then apply the slip to the bird. Hold the two together and give a few gentle twists until the join sets. If you break a piece it can be repaired using this slip and water. Back on the hostess trolly for another 20 minutes to dry. If you need a hole for earring fittings etc now is the time to do it with a drill bit.
It was then time to fire our pieces and they were done in a professional kiln and took 15 minutes once the kiln had reached 750 degrees. Lori also showed us how to dry our small charms using a blow torch. You heat the piece until it is a salmon pink colour. Best to do it in a dark room. Then set a timer. An earing would take about 3 minutes and our complicated pendants would have taken about 7 minutes. It is then time to polish off the white binder using a wire brush.
This is something that I will have another go at because I was thrilled with the end result. The bail is a bit wonky because you needed a flat bit to attach it to the pendant and this is difficult with circle. This was handmade so who cares!!
